[New Swedish legislation on research misconduct from 2020]

This review is prompted by new Swedish legislation on research misconduct to be in effect as of January 1st, 2020. Approximately 4 out of 10 000 published articles are retracted because of misconduct. Many Asian countries top the list of proportion of articles retracted. In Sweden, more than half of all mass media reports on misconduct concern medical research. The most discussed drivers of misconduct include the incentives by universities and funders with emphasis on competiveness, journal editors' preference for novelty over veracity, and the ethical culture as to research area, country and local institution. For most of fraudsters, detection means an end of their academic career. Victims include co-workers, institutions, patients and science at large. The newly revised European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity may serve as guidance for academic and healthcare organisations that strive to prevent research misconduct.